1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to measuring receptacles and more particularly to measuring receptacles of various volumes, each having cylindrical side walls with a common, removable bottom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical conventional measuring receptacles consist of cup-shaped vessels having open tops and integrally closed bottoms. To provide a means to measure different volumes of a material to be measured, the vessels normally contain a plurality of graduation marks arranged in several rows and inscribed along the outside of the vessels, with the graduation marks indicating volumes in the metric system (milliliters) or English measuring system (cups and ounces).
A typical measuring operation involves inserting a material to be measured into the closed bottom of the cup from the top, tamping the material if necessary until it reaches a desired level as determined by the graduation mark, then discharging the material out the open top of the cup into a mixing bowl or the like, with scraping of the material from the cup if necessary. The integrally closed bottom configuration of the cup often results in appreciable amounts of the measured material being left in the bottom of a cup, with consequent measuring inaccuracies. In this regard, institutions such as hospitals or the like have spent considerable time and consumed substantial amounts of water washing and wiping these closed bottom cup measuring devices to remove this measured material.
The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a plurality of cup members, each having an open top and bottom, and each being closable at the bottom by a slidably removable bottom plate. In this manner a measured material may be emptied from the bottom of each of the cup members. In addition, each cup member has cylindrical, vertically straight side walls, thereby facilitating complete removal of a measured material from the cup member. By maintaining either the height or the diameter of all cup members equal, the volumes of the cup members may be selected such as to provide a standard set of measuring receptacles. Use of a measuring receptacle according to the present invention results in a very substantial savings in water due to the ready cleansability of the receptacle. Also, use of the measuring receptacle results in a saving of food, as one now may essentially completely remove all measured material from a given cup member simply by withdrawal of the bottom plate and by a sweep of a spatula, knife or the like around the vertical cylindrical walls of the cup members.
Fry, U.S. Pat. No. 686,070, discloses a measuring vessel with an open top and bottom but differs from the present invention in that Fry does not provide a slidably closable bottom nor a plurality of measuring vessels having various volumes therein. Rommer, U.S. Pat. No. 772,674, is directed to a scoop or ladle with an open top and bottom and which has a movable bottom for displacing the contents of the scoop out of top. Rommer also differs from the present invention in that Rommer does not provide a slidably closable bottom nor cup members having a plurality of volumes. Borin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,794, discloses a pill accounting dispenser covered by a transparent slide member, but differs from the present invention in that Borin provides a plurality of compartments having closed bottoms. Dickeson, U.S. Pat. No. 897,458, discloses a measuring device with a slide constituting an adjustable closure for the device. The measuring device in Dickeson differs from the present invention in that the measuring device has an integrally closed bottom.